Captain America: Brave New World

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Edit Coming 08/31/26

Superhero fatigue is a very real and widespread thing nowadays, even going so far as to effect genuine fans of this material. I've brought it up in previous superhero movie reviews, and at this point in the game, speaking personally, I'm right smack dab in the middle of it all. To some degree, I am tired of it being so overdone, even outside of the MCU, and a lot of it is redundant at this point. But at the same time, I love my heroes, and every now and then there is still a pleasant surprise here and there.

Unfortunately, 'Brave New World' here is a good example of your average run-of-the-mill superhero flick, with no real razzle-dazzle to make it stand out. It could have stood out with the appearance of Red Hulk, but that was shown too quickly in the trailers. I certainly didn't leave the movie thinking it was a waste of my time or even thinking it was that bad, despite what so many critics are saying about it. In fact, some of the criticisms about it are exactly what I enjoyed about it.

Steve Rogers handed over Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) the mantle of Captain America in 'Endgame.' Sam has since been on some adventures with Bucky Barnes, AKA Winter Soldier, establishing himself as the new Cap in the series 'Falcon & The Winter Soldier.' Meanwhile, Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross (Harrison Ford, formerly William Hurt, RIP) has been elected President of the United States. He seeks to better himself politically and for his estranged daughter, Betty Ross, who was last seen about sixteen years ago in 'Incredible Hulk.'

Despite some past friction, Ross sends Sam and his new sidekick, Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez), to Oaxaca, Mexico, to prevent the illegal sale of something classified, stolen by the Serpent Society, a spec-ops team led by a guy named Sidewinder (Giancarlo Esposito). The mission is a success, and the classified item Sam and Joaquin recover ends up being the precious metal adamantium found on Celestial Island: the gigantic Celestial whose emergence from the Indian Ocean got disrupted back in 'The Eternals' and hasn't been mentioned since.

The President and some of his colleagues soon find themselves under fire from unknown sources. However, one of the attackers is Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly), a long-forgotten super soldier introduced to us in 'Falcon & The Winter Soldier.' Knowing Isiah's innocence, Sam and Joaquin set out to find the real mastermind behind the attacks. At the same time, Joaquin goes through a crash course to learn what it means to be Captain America's right-hand man and the risks involved with neither of them having abilities like Steve did.

The film comes across as a little bit of three different stories to make up one all-around sequel to no 'Cap' movie as much as 2008's 'Incredible Hulk.' As much as I appreciate that they are reaching back into time to connect things (along with 'The Eternals'), I get why not everyone will be thrilled with such a thing. It's one part the introduction of adamantium to tease some upcoming 'X-Men' movie, one part Joaquin's training and camaraderie with Sam, and one part the spark of reforming the Avengers: a team I wasn't sure was even "broken" at this point.

Quality-wise, I would compare this to something like 'Black Widow.' It's not without some charm, but it's one of the weaker titles that feels like it belongs a little more in a different time. While I can enjoy the filmmakers reaching back so far, not everyone can say the same, and that's understandable. On top of that, the post-credit scene doesn't exactly set up anything we don't already know and have known for quite some time. At best, this is an average "bridge" movie, leading to something bigger, like some prologue. It's "fine," nothing special, but the MCU has delivered worse.

POST-CREDIT SCENE: No spoilers until the release of 'Fantastic 4: The First Steps'

3/5

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